Next week's pre-orders are somewhat of a mixed bag for hobbyists. On one hand, the ongoing Nurgle get a new vehicle, the Plagueburst Crawler, the Foetid Bloat-drone from the Dark Imperium boxed set, plus two new characters,Scribbus Wretch and Nauseous Rotbone. The Plagueburst Crawler has been on the radar for a while, and not only has a very distinct look, but fluff-wise was invented by Mortarian himself. Unlike the Foetid Bloat-drone - which has three alternate configurations and lots of extra detail bits to make it look interesting - the Crawler does not! Unlike the Crawler, it's also not a bad price! Scribbus Wretch(the Tallyman to his friends) is a priest/ scribe/ quartermaster fusion. Nauseous Rotboneis the Death Guard version of an Apothecary -which makes you wonder if the other Chaos Space Marine Legions will have similar incarnations.The other big release for next week is the Astra Militarum. They get a Codex - both normaland Collector's Edition(left), some DatacardsBUT no new minis! Games Workshop are missing out on a huge opportunity here - the mood for a new tank and a new Imperial Guard unit is very high, but instead we get re-releases; the Vostroyan Lascannon Team, andCadianand Catachan Command vehicleunits.There's also the new Moon Base Klasius Realm of Battle out - and this one comes with some very cool plastic wall sections! The board itself is also very thick card and not the roll out mats that have been previously released. In books, Lorgar gets a back story and Calgar goes all double-fist action!

Thoughts on Codex: Astra Militarum So far the Grey Knights Codex has been a full reprint with some rules changes, the Mechanicus has had some great additions to completely spruce up the units and some new rules and extra fluff to add layers of character to them. Now we come to the Astra Militarum who when their last Codex was released was such a huge disappointment in terms of fluff. It was crap - boring, soul destroying mindless, repetitive, depressing and made any interest in collecting Astra Militarum completely null and void. The Codex portrayed them as nothing more than cannon fodder - no bravery, just a hopeless band of flesh walls to pave the way for Space Marines and tanks. The decades of stories of heroism and character were all thrown away in what was a poorly written torrent of drivel.One can only hope that this Codex is not just a reprint, but a relaunch, a way forward for the brave fighting men and women of the armies of humanity, cast across a thousand battlefields.

Well this is a bit exciting - we have a guest book review by a devoted slave to the Mechanicum, master of the ambitious kitbash and regular follower of Beardy Hammer, Steven Grimson-Smith. Apart from a potentially unhealthy love for the Omnissiah, Steven also has a rather sizeable Custodes army - so who better to review Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legionthan he?!​-One of Black Library’s newest offerings, is Watchers of The Throne: The Emporer’s Legion. Written by Chris Wraight, the same author who brought us Leman Russ: The Great Wolf, The Battle of The Fang and The Carrion Throne, the story starts just before the Fall of Cadia.

Black Library is surprisingly mum about the details of what the novel is actually about though, the blurb on the website just simply states:“The Custodian Guard have stood watch over the Emperor's Palace on Terra since the foundation of the Imperium. Charged with protecting the Master of Mankind from all threats, within and without, their fearsome resolve is renowned throughout the galaxy, and their golden armour is the last thing that a would-be assassin or saboteur will ever see. Alongside the Null-maidens of the Sisters of Silence, who are anathema to psykers and sorcerers alike, there is no threat to the Golden Throne that they alone cannot vanquish... until now.”

Well then…that just about sums everything we already knew about the famed Talons of the Emperor, I think I’ve read more descriptive paragraphs in the subject lines of emails!​The story focuses around three main characters. With each chapter, the narrator role rotates between the three characters, offering different perspectives of the same events. Our characters are Alexi Lev Tieron, the Chancellor of the Imperial Court and Tannau Aleya, a null maiden of the Sisters of Silence, and some Custodes Shield-Captain guy named Valerian, who has nothing interesting of note, besides the fact he’s a Custode.Each character has their own story arc and reasons to fight for the Imperium.Alexi is fighting to unite the Council of Terra to overturn the laws set down by Roboute Guilliman and allow for the Custodes to be released to turn the tide against the forces of Chaos.Tannau Aleya is fighting because she hates Chaos. And to avenge her Sisterhood which was destroyed by Chaos. And because she hates the Imperium for forgetting about the Sisters of Silence. And because she hates the Custodes.And Valerian the Custode guy? Well he’s fighting because he’s a Custode.​-The first half of the book is a little slow, and mostly focuses around Alexi’s efforts to unite the Council of Terra together. It’s interesting to see how politics in the 41st millennium works, but let’s face it, we’re just waiting for the grimdark to come screaming in and wreck the joint.

Halfway through the book, just as we’re about to find out if the Council is united on overturning Guilliman’s laws, a cry goes up, “Cadia has fallen!”. It’s at this point that the galaxy goes to hell in a handbasket…literally. If you’ve read the 40k rulebook, “Fall of Cadia”, then you’ll know it goes. The 13th Black Crusade blows Cadia to pieces, the Eye of Terror grows and splits the Imperium in half, and most importantly, the Astronomican goes dark. For thirty-odd days, the Imperium ceases to exist.

During this month of darkness, the Custodes place a long distance call to Titan and ask the Grey Knights what was going on, and to ask if they have any spare lightbulbs to plug into the Astronomican. The Grey Knights are ever so helpful, and tell them to go to a particular point on Luna. It’s around this time, that you’ll remember the events of Rise of the Primarch. Guilliman arrives with several armies worth of Space Marines, Imperial Guard, a living Saint, a bunch of xenos and are being chased by the Thousand Sons.You can almost hear the Benny Hill theme song playing in the background.

We jump forward a few days, to the time where Guilliman has locked himself in the Throne room and the High Lords are bickering like small kids, worried that all their power is going to be taken away from them by the last surviving son of the Emperor. The bickering is rudely interrupted by our Custode friend who is taking a walk with some Grey Knights and kicking the butts of one of the many new Chaos cults that have appeared on Terra. It’s here that things get a little Khorne-y and the second Battle of the Lion’s Gate begins.​The battle plays out like any other standard 40k battle, the defenders are grossly overpowered by the forces of Khorne and struggle to hold back the crimson tide. There’s a fairly epic paragraph of the gates of the Imperial Palace opening and releasing a golden tide of Custodes and crashing into the forces of evil. The battle ends with the Lion’s Gate being destroyed, Guilliman being hailed a hero, and over 2,000 Custodes dead. Yes, you read that right, 2,000 Custodes die in this rather short battle. It’s a bit crazy when you remember that only 3 Custodes died during the Battle of Ullanor, let’s hope there’s enough room on the Emperor’s armour to inscribe the names of these 2,000 Custodes.

Jumping forward a little further, our generic Custodes hero realises that the forces of Chaos are actually working on a secret plan to cut all the major warp routes that the Imperium use to travel to and from Terra. Seven out of the eight routes have already been cut by the time our brave Custode and bad-ass Sister raise an army (of 40) and break all the rules and skip school for the day to go play hero and defend a planet by themselves.They arrive in time to stop a Black Legion ship from launching one of the left over pillars from Cadia into the planet cutting the last stable route from Terra. The 40 Custodes and Sisters sells their lives dearly and manage to hold out long enough for the rest of the forces of Terra to play catch up.The book closes with the Imperium declaring the saved planet as the new gateway (Cadia Mark II anyone?) and the launch of the Indomitus Crusade.-So our final thoughts on the book.We were told that this book would offer our first insight into how the Custodes and Sisters of Silence will work in the 42nd Millennia. They function the same as they did in the 31st Millennia, albeit with more fury.If you’re a fan of the Talons of the Emperor, we’d definitely recommend this book to you and give it a solid8.5/10 stars.

few weeks ago we shared the beginning of our then-unnamed War Hounds Legion Praetor.Instead of rushing it, I decided to take a bit of time, try some new things with techniques and also so the first real scenic base for my War Hounds.As mentioned previously, the look of the War Hounds has been evolving from the one drawing in the Horus Heresy Book 1, and now being bale to do an officer, I think this scheme and the way they would do markings are now fully evolved in my mind.There's been a lot of conversion on this model, but it ties in, so it's hard to see - the cape at the back covered up the largest conversion - the Stormcast shin armour. Below is a breakdown of the mini, done in the three sub-assemblies.

Praetor

The Praetor itself was a read amalgam of bitz - Imperial Fists torso (for that Great Crusade look), Raven Guard claws, Red Scorpion and Iron Warriors should pads, Stormcast shin armour, plastic MKIII legs, Space Wolf pelt and Veteran head. After a lot of trial and error, and a few cut thumbs, the look was complete. I wanted him to have a close combat look to carry forward the War Hounds Legion fluff, but at the same time be regal and really stand out from the rest of the troops. Although he is primarily the standard War Hounds blue and there's actually no more white on him than the normal War Hounds, he needed to be different - so I decided on red to set him apart. His groin armour was four layers of blending to get the right shade, and adding the fur pelt was something I'd wanted for the War Hounds for ages - it is in their fluff after all!The mix of metallics was a bit of trial and error, but seems to be about right. His shoulder pad heraldry is unusual for a War Hound, but for a Praetor it needed to be. Was going to go reversed colours with the rampant hound, but decided that was too much red. The Red Scorpions studded shoulder really makes it I think - it's unique. The Stormcast shins were a test really, having used the front, but cut the backs off the add the plastic MKIII calves and then adding new studs to make it more dynamic. The face is from a Veteran, and is washed and then blended, while the scars got their own wash and highlight.

Backpack

The backpack was a bit of a challenge - I knew it needed height, but it also needed to look regal without being a gold mess or a crown. Luckily I am an incessant bitz buyer, so had lots to play with. The backpack is a fiddly conversion using the Limited Edition Space Marine Captainbackpack, with the funnels, pipes and fan from a plastic MKIII backpack. It's fiddly, but fits surprisingly well and the Iron Halo is perfect for the fluff. The cape is from the Custodes, painfully cut and bent into shape and then padded out with Green Stuff to get the shape right. The colours are standard War Hounds and don't deviate from the rules I've set for which bits are white and which bits are blue dependent on rank and role. There's lots of little details, but the decision to do it white was really to make it look less like an Ultramarine, which would generally go for red. The gold was layered on and the decals placed to make his Legion affiliation not-so-subtle.

Scenic Base

Although the Stormcast shins gave him a tiny height advantage. he needed more and this Age of $igmar scenic base seemed the way to go. All the beses of my War Hounds are running on the theme of planetfall. They have just hit the planet, maybe taken out some advanced parties and are moving in on the cities of this world - a world needing to be brought back under the rule of the Emperor of Mankind. This civilisation will have some Mayan influences, so the little triangles on this base were perfect. The metallic arch is a metallic not on any of the War Hounds, so is truly unique, and the helmet is a conversion from a Dark Elves Executioner with a Chaos Marine top knot. I added plastic card to put flag stones on the ground, and rocks and shrubs (Gamer Grass BTW) to tie in with the other War Hounds bases. Overall I am very happy with this simple base and his pose, although not designed for the base, does seem to suit it.

War Hounds Legion Praetor Farrar KerRis

And assembled, here he is - Praetor Farrar Kerris. The name comes from Matthew Farrar, the author of the first War Hounds story and as far as I can tell, then guy who actually named them.The colours on the Praetor are very simple - bronze for rank, silver studs to make him stand out from the rest of his troops - even veterans - the dirty white, blue with the subtle highlight and two tones of red; the crimson red for the War Hounds bits and a brighter red for the purity seals. The orange of the enemy helmet and markings on the base are to contrast with the blue which give it an alien feel.-Overall this was an experiment that I think adds to the army, which - despite being critical of my work - I'm really proud of actually. Now... maybe I need to flesh out what the enemy look like!?

​Nurgle marches on next week, with the brand new Typhus(left)model hitting the shelves. The old model was a fan favourite, and so far we hear mixed things about this one. He's very ornate, and that probably leads to him looking squat and less impressive than the old one. Typhus is not alone - he brings with him the Foul Blightspawn(who despite coming on a sprue is effectively mono-pose) and the Blightlord Terminatorswho come with a bevy of weapons options.Age of $igmar is back with the Warriors of the Great Cities boxed sets, which are pretty expensive, but if you do the maths are actually good value! Honestly don't know why we need Stormcast in everything! In related Ao$ news, the Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Firestormgame is coming. Is there is an appetite out there for these larger scope games with no minis? Time will tell!Despite The Hobbit being nowhere near as good as the Lord of the Rings films, Games Workshop wtill have the merchandising deal, so they are pumping out some new resin soldiers for the Lake-town area with the Militia Warbandand the Guard Warbandon the way. The fact they aren't plastic could point to the cutting back of resources to this franchise as resin is cheaper to produce.In books, Cadia Stands tells a story that no one will ikely care about because we already know the result - Cadia did not stand, Cadia died. Bit of light reading for those looking for a good time? NOT!At the opposite side of the spectrum, Blackshields. Fans of the Horus Heresy and 30K will know them well. Blackshields: The False Wartells the story of... well check this out:"Renouncing fealty to all masters or driven mad by the rigours of war, the Blackshields are a stain upon any Legion they once served. Regarded as little better than pirates, their loyalty is only to themselves. Infamous among their mercenary ranks is Endryd Haar, a former World Eater, driven by hatred, his blade pledged to no banner but his own. But estranged from his Legion and surrounded by a battered warband of warriors, how long can Haar and his Blackshields hope to endure?"Cool, right? Blackshields are GW's way of bringing old fluff and new fluff together and tell the story of Space Marines who just want to smash things up, tool around the galaxy, hang around bars in brightly coloured armour and basically be bad ass! This audio drama is tempting me!

The Citadel Paint App was originally greeted with ​some skepticism as a potential platform for their painting videos hosted by Duncan Personality Vacuum. Originally these videos were great, lots of tips and new stuff to learn especially from someone with so much skill, but in recent times these videos have become pretty repetitive - I mean how many times do we need to be taught how to paint blue!?Anyway, the Citadel Paint App is now out, and we had a good look this morning... and are pleasantly surprised at what a potentially excellent resource this could be if curated well.So lets take a bit of a tour of what you get on day of release..

Get StartedThe Get Started section is a basic tour of the tools of the trade and how to use them. The menu for this includes an interactive splash page with a video into up the top. You can click on any of the coloured sections, which will produce a pop up with a brief explanation and then a video explaining the technique. From what we have seen so far, these have been produced especially for the app.Also on this page is a section on brushes, putting them in their groups and explaining what to use each one for.

Paint By ColourFor us, this is the handiest section, all you need to do do is choose a colour you want to paint. You are then taken through different shades of the colour - even black and white. Once you choose the shade of the colour you want, they give you a list of colours you use to achieve that look and use a Space Marine backpack as an example.

Paint By MiniatureHere you can copy a miniature you have seen in White Dwarf, and broken down into the colours, which in turn directs you to the examples above.

Paint BasesHere you can choose the type of simple environment you want to paint, they give you an example and the colours you need. This is a beginners area really!

Inventory and WishlistEver wondered what you do and don't have at home when you're out shopping? Well now you'll know! You can either select what you have or what you need to buy. There's even a search function.Very handy indeed!

VerdictOverall we are surprised how good this app is. To be fair most Games Workshop apps are pretty poor and not attractive at all, but this one really hist it out of the park! Simply being able to pick a colour, then narrow that down to what shade of that colour you want, and then telling you what you need is amazing! This isn't the only way to use the paints by the way, you can invent your own ways to achieve colours, but it's certainly a good start and a very good guide.The ability to also break down a painted model and show you the colours by example is also very good. Tzaangor flesh? Here it is! Bronze on a Kharadron ship? Here that is too!For us, the Paint by Colour and Paint By Miniature are the best parts of the app. For beginners, the Get Started is great, or even if you want a refresher.As a hobbyists who stands in front of the paint rack trying to work out what I already have, the Wishlist and Inventory is also really good! What's really interesting is that the wishlist is not attached to the Games Workshop webstore at all - it is purely a list. In fact going through this app, there is no point where it sends you to the webstore, which is pretty amazing as pretty much all the previous GW apps are for exactly that.This actually seems to be a service for hobbyists.-Kudos to Games Workshop for coming up with this app. It's going to be very handy!

Seeing more Mechanicus on the battlefield is always a good thing. Not as overpowered in the 40K universe as they are in the 30K universe, they are still a fearsome opponent with some of the best models out there!Next week sees the release of the new Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus, which comes in Collectors Edition and normalAssembly Lineversions, plus the Datacardsand a few bundles or older models. Bit of as pity not to have something new like a new transport or tank though. Girly-man's current BFF, Bellisarius Cawl(left) also gets an individual release - and man is he $$! Pretty sure I got one on eBay for $40!-It's quite interesting actually, the Adeptus Mechanicus release quite plainly spells out them out as being for 40K only ("detailed history of the Adeptus Mechanicus, from their inception to the 41st Millennium...") and with a current discussion in the community about some Mechanicum players using 40K models in 30K Horus Heresy gaming instead of the excellent but expensive Forge World range, I wonder if there could be some further sectioning off of the two ranges. Or maybe we just need plastic Thallax.... COME ON, PLEASE!!-The Nurgle release from last week continues with Mortarian's Deathshroud Bodyguard, three Terminators, who seem to be multi-part, if not multi-pose.Away from the main releases, the Eye of Nightaudio drama which apparently ties Inquisitor Greyfax into the background of Battlefleet Gothic game. Still think this game is going to be re-released!In book releases, we get a rare look into a sub-branch of the Emperor's elite Custodes in Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion. This hitherto unspoken cadres are the ones tasked with making sure the Emperor not only flushes, but puts the toilet seat down after using his Golden Throne. They make sure there is plenty of paper, reading material and clean it endlessly until it's spotless. Not a job for a mindless Servitor, these men have a task only few can perform, and they do it with pride - even after The Emperor has a night on the curry! It's a powerfully moving story of devotion and sacrifice.-

Now here's a thing... can I justify buying the Adeptus Mechanicus Codex for this two page spread of Kastelans? I love these minis and have one for my War Hounds and one for myLegio Balista force.Seems like a stretch - but look how totally awesome these are!

As we've mentioned before, coming up with the look for the War Hounds was a long process, and that was just the troops and vehicles, but when it comes to officers - that's a whole other story!There's already a start to the Command Squad with one guy with a big Celtic/ Norse inspired war horn, and a non-command officer in the Praevian with his robot, but building the big cheese for the War Hounds Legion was going to be interesting!People make some amazing officers with such cool conversions mixing bits from all over the universe, so this challenge was much anticipated and a nice change after really being unable to do much hobby due to illness.For a more indepth look - head over to the War Hounds page

Ever since the introduction of the Primarch Girly-man into the 40K universe, the appetite has been there for more - and with the announcement of the Mortarian pre-order today, the community will be a buzz with excitement. Mortarian himself comes with an alternate head, plus alternate arms to create either the pose to the left, or the one below. He is a mighty model, with a mighty price tag, so be warned!As with any new large release like this, there are multiple versions of the Codex - Limited Edition, Collectors Edition, and Bog Standard Editon(not it's name but oddly appropriate). In the models department, we have this very odd Plague Brethren deluxe box of three minis (appropriate for Nurgle) but also pretty hefty for only 3 push-fit miniatures, and some bits of paper! A very cool item though, are the limited release Death Guard Dice. Now these are very different, and with a nice wash of inks, maybe some gloss on the pustules, they would look amazing! As per normal, we also get a set of themed Data Cards as well. So if you're a Nurgle fan, go forth and wreak havoc. Next week we should get the multi-part Death Guard, so curious to see those!A few novels are out next week - in lieu of actual miniatures, Sisters of Battle get an Omnibuswhich collects Faith & Fire,Hammer & Anvil, Red & Black, Heart & Soul into one tome. Meanwhile the community wait for new miniatures that may just never come! Also in novels, for the Blood Angel fan, Mephiston is back in Mephiston: Blood of Sanguinius. Part pretty boy, part vampire lord (seriously - the guy is old school Blood Angel), this should be a nice return to normality for those shaken by recent events in the 40K universe.

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In a time before 40k, there was a band of men and women who took part in gaming without the corporate sensibilities of today. Take a step back with us and also look upon the future through wizened eyes and curious ponderings of The Beardy Hammer!